AN: Less than a week left and I'm done with school...so excited. Here's your next chapter people.
Thank you to the reviewers, you guys rock and I feel ready to finish writing this story!
And a thank you to Greg for being the guinea...er...beta. :)
XLVII.
It seemed the enemy had set up a perimeter around the Community Center. Getting to it was easy, the sewers had a connection to the center basement, and the group easily slipped inside, but they became quickly aware of the Skitters and Mech patrolling outside. Evidently, the enemy knew how important the abandoned vehicles were to their adversary.
"Now what?" Pope grunted, eying Dai warily.
Dai returned the look, "Now you and your friends provide a distraction."
Pope glanced at Crazy Lee, Lyle, Tector, Boon, none of them seemed too put out by Dai's instruction, though slightly hesitant.
"How do you propose we do that?" Lyle wondered.
"Aren't you guys berserkers, now?" Anthony jeered; gesturing towards the front entry of the center, though the reference was a bit lost on Jimmy, the group it was directed at seemed to get it, "Go out there and berserk, guns blazing."
"And what about you, mister officer," Pope challenged, crossing his arms over his chest and leering at the other man intently, "Coming after us earlier, hauling us around like mutts on a chain…doesn't that make you our handler or, at the very least, one of us?"
For a moment, Anthony looked abashed, and then said, "Are you asking me to babysit you in battle, Pope?"
"Anthony, Pope, when I give the signal, open fire from the roof," Dai commanded, clearly deciding it time to bypass the other men's antics, "As soon as there's an opening, Hal, choose three fighters and head for the bikes, drive north as far as you can then head east, most of our people went south west. The rest of you, pair off and choose vehicles, just get to them, do not start them. Jimmy, you're with me."
Orders doled out, Dai spun round and headed towards the classrooms, Jimmy hurrying after him.
"Hey, wait, what's the signal?" Pope called after, infuriated, though Anthony just insisted they head to the roof.
"Dai's a 'you'll know it when you see it' kind of signaler," he explained.
"What are we doing?" Jimmy asked; as he and Dai rounded a corner and Dai threw open the door to one of the storerooms.
"We need something to take down those Mechs," Dai explained, "How do you feel about making some napalm?"
"Is there a right answer to that question?" Jimmy wondered and Dai smirked down at him.
"Grab those bottles over there," Dai said, pointing and himself heading for a different supply shelf. Jimmy crossed the room towards the indicated items.
"You know how to make napalm from…" Jimmy examined the bottles he was collecting, "Soap and…Styrofoam cups?"
"Yes."
Jimmy wrinkled his brow at Dai, returning with the requested items, "Can I ask…before the aliens…?"
"I was in school," Dai said, leading the way back out of the store room and towards one of the classes.
"Oh, school, okay," Jimmy murmured.
Dai threw open the classroom door, it looked as though it had been an arts and crafts room, and tossed the items he'd gathered onto one of the tables inside. Jimmy followed suit, then watched as Dai rummaged through the cabinets, retrieving large paint jugs. Dai began emptying the jugs at one of the classroom's sinks.
"Um…what did you study in school?" Jimmy meekly questioned.
Dai smiled wryly at Jimmy, returning to the table with the empty plastic jugs, "Political science. I thought I might be a journalist."
"Oh," Jimmy made a face, "I guess that makes sense. You're a bit like Clark Kent, minus the flying…"
"Pay attention," Dai said, then began demonstrating assembling the incendiaries and instructing Jimmy to follow along. They put together three.
"You really think this'll take down those Mechs?" Jimmy asked.
"Theoretically, this should ignite a fire hot enough to melt metal," Dai said.
"What kind of metal?" Jimmy questioned, suddenly suspicious, and Dai didn't answer, "You don't know if this is going to work."
"I don't."
"Great. I suppose I've been in worse situations with fewer chances."
"And only just this morning. You know, that should be the 2nd Mass's motto."
"Yeah, right. We can make patches, sew them onto our sleeves," Jimmy grinned, "Right underneath we'll put, 'the cosmos's bitch'."
Dai laughed shortly.
"We'll ignite one of these bombs; hold on to the last two if we can. Once we're done here, you and I are taking to the sewers again, we'll leave Pope's 'berserkers' to fend off the enemy here," he decided, leading the way up towards the roof.
"At some point, we'll look for Ben…right?" Jimmy tentatively questioned.
"We're looking for everyone, Jimmy, and if we're lucky, Ben will be the first person we find," Dai returned.
Anthony, Pope and the rest were already in position and Dai gestured a 'go ahead' with his hand. They opened fire.
…
By the time Ben arrived, it seemed other fighters had made it back to the daycare center, probably pointed there by other pairs of civilians, but they were pinned outside confronting the enemy. Ben approached the fighters, aiming to gather information. Weaver and his group came upon the scene moments later, instantly falling into formation and joining the fray.
"The people inside?" Ben began question of the first fighter he came up to, somewhat relieved to find it was a familiar face, Mary. She shrugged response, and leaned back behind a crumbling cement wall for cover. Her features were pale, streaked with dust and sweat, her expression grim. She looked as though she'd been crying earlier.
"Maggie sent us this way," she said, although she was shouting, her voice was soft and muted by the sounds of gunfire all around them, "But when we got here, it was under attack. There are little ones inside, right?"
"Yeah, and so is Dr. Glass and her family," Ben answered, then quietly answered, "And my kid brother."
"Um…have you heard about…about Jimmy?" Mary started, her words breaking slightly.
"Yes," Ben snapped, feeling suddenly heated that the girl should even have any concerns about the well-being and whereabouts of his lover, then winced, silently reminding himself that his anger was unnecessary because Jimmy was hislover and nothing she did would or could change that, at least, he was fairly certain of it, and he gently informed her, "I have to get back to Weaver."
Weaver perked when Ben approached, the two falling back to cover to converse.
"I can get inside, sir," Ben said, "Maybe help defend them on that end."
"Give them a bit of a buffer until we can reach them. Good thinking," Weaver agreed, "Go ahead, we'll cover you."
Ben unsheathed his knife, and waited anxiously for a proper opening, then sprinted towards the daycare. He exchanged blows with a few Skitters along the way, dodged the advance of a Mech, and burst inside the building, never once stopping for a breath. He could hear more Skitters throughout the rooms, most of the children were pinned down in a back area, an auditorium if Ben remembered correctly and, from the sounds of it, Uncle Scott was with them. A smaller group of children were attempting to slip out the backyard, led by Dr. Glass.
Choosing a direction wasn't hard; Uncle Scott's group was in the most immediate danger. Ben raced down the hall and hit a Skitter roadblock. He could see the door to the room where the children were stashed, Uncle Scott stood his ground in front of it with a rifle wielding it like a club and not firing off any rounds, which meant he was likely out of bullets. Ben took down the first Skitter easy, but found himself wrestling with two at once. Out of the corner of an eye, he could see Uncle Scott being thrashed around.
…
The napalm didn't destroy the Mechs, but it did a good job of slowing them down, Dai suggested it was due to the fire most likely melting softer metals in their joints. They ended up using two and left the last one with Anthony, he and the berserkers remaining on the roof to draw enemy attention. Dai and Jimmy slipped into the sewers again and headed eastward.
"Weaver thought he might pull the enemy units this direction, give the civilians a clearer escape route," Dai explained, "Most of the fighters might be more concentrated that way."
Together they raced through the disgusting mulch festered tunnels, Jimmy leading the way, pausing every so often to listen at grate openings. Eventually the sound of a nearby battle caught his ear, and he hurried towards the closest manhole. Dai went up the ladder first and Jimmy quickly followed. On the street, Dai took the lead, both shouldering their rifles.
Not too far down the road, they found a small cluster of fighters taking cover behind a busted up Buick and firing on a group of Skitters. A limp body lay across the open street. Dai and Jimmy helped finish off the enemy then went to greet their fellows. A couple of the fighters went to turn over their dead friend, closed his gaping eyes and whispered a few words of parting.
Maggie was amongst the group, and immediately crushed Jimmy in an embrace. For a few seconds, he reveled in the feel, her familiar warmth, ready to collapse like a small child in his mother's arm, and then remembered that he was meant to be a battle-hardened fighter, and that there were onlookers, squirmed out of her grasp and indignantly straightened himself.
"For Christ's sake, Maggie, I'm fine," he grumbled, "Why do you always have to treat me like a kid…?"
"Where is everyone?" Maggie questioned Dai, completely disregarding Jimmy's petulant protest, absently smoothing his hair from his face.
"Not yet," Dai commanded, ignoring the questions, and heading back towards the sewer entrance, receiving more than a few puzzled looks as they were all ushered to descend into the dank corridor.
It wasn't until they were all safely underground that Dai began explanations, as Jimmy took lead again.
"We're trying to establish whereabouts now," Dai said, "We've retaken the community center. Sort of. Anthony is there with Pope and his people holding the ground. We've got people inside key vehicles ready to move and three fighters on bikes roving the area."
"Any word on Weaver?" someone asked.
"No," Dai answered easily, "We're searching out other survivors…"
"Then there's a daycare center near here that we should head towards," Maggie interjected, "Ben told me they're working on gathering people there."
"Ben," Jimmy perked, anxiously rattling off question, "You've seen him? Where was he? How was he? Where did he go? How long ago did he leave? Can we still go after him?"
Maggie and a couple others laughed, awash with a nervous kind of energy from the endless battling. Jimmy flustered at their response, realizing how he must sound and falling silent, though a relief immeasurable spread through him and he bubbled with a sudden burst of energy.
"He was fine. We ran into him on the street not too long ago, but knowing how fast he can move, he's probably long gone by now. He was searching for other fighters, pointing them to the daycare," Maggie explained, "Dr. Glass is there, and a lot of children."
"Right. We'll head to the daycare then," Dai decided.
"What about Ben?" Jimmy protested and then again flustered, wincing as blood flooded his cheeks, and all eyes turned on him. Yes, okay, fine, he was worried about the guy he made out with in storage closets. They would be too if they were in his situation, he was sure of it.
"We know that Ben is in the area," Dai said quietly, "That'll have to be enough for now."
"I know. Sorry," Jimmy murmured, sheepishly asking, "Which way to the daycare?"
…
The moment Ben saw Uncle Scott go down; he knew he had milliseconds to reach the children before it would be too late. A Skitter claw pinned him to the wall, and the dying older man's wheezing gasps for air screamed through him. He thrust his blade through the Skitter's soft palate, and slashed across the vulnerable eyes of another, causing it to writhe screeching and blind, slamming head first into the wall. Ben managed to reach Uncle Scott and knelt down to brush fingertips across his hand, gain his attention.
"Kate…" Uncle Scott gasped, crinkling his eyes and brow and murmuring disoriented, "My Kate…won't woke up…"
The old man was terrible to look at, his body battered and broken in ways Ben could never imagine repairable. Uncle Scott made attempt to sit up, but slumped against the wall. Briefly, Ben wondered if he could move Uncle Scott into the backroom, maybe barricade him in with the children and stand guard on the door until Weaver could push through, but Ben knew that moving Uncle Scott would be pointless, he'd die before ever reaching the door.
"The cavalry is just outside," Ben whispered; he could taste bitter metal on his lip, and was drenched in blood both alien and human, "Hold on."
"Forget me…get to the kids," Uncle Scott slurred, gesturing his hand randomly towards the backroom and attempting to refocus on the situation.
"I'm not leaving you here alone," Ben returned, he rose slightly and prepared for an oncoming Skitter, "I'll get you out of here."
The Skitter lunged and Ben used the wall to leverage himself, drive his blade up through the creature's underside. He pushed it back with the keel of his foot and finished it off with a quick jab through the throat, squatting down next to Uncle Scott again.
"You can't save me," Uncle Scott insisted, struggling to sit himself up, red slick across the wall and pooling beneath him. One side of his face was gashed open, and colored a sickly purple, eye sealed shut with blood and pus, his other eye narrowly slit due to over swelling, "Get me on my feet, I'll hold the rest off, give you a chance to get to the kids…"
"No," Ben argued; his father, Jimmy, his brothers, why did everyone always end up paying for his mistakes? Just this once, couldn't he be the one to make the sacrifice and save instead of be saved? You're not the hero of this story…
Skitters were scratching at the backroom door, they would burst through at any moment if Ben didn't make a move soon. He tightened his grip on the blade in his hand, and growled low in the back of his throat. He could hear the children inside, murmuring afraid to one another. He could hear Matt inside, whispering comfort to the other children, determination in his young voice, "If they make it through, we have to fight…"
"Okay," Ben relented. He sighed, and hurried to help drag Uncle Scott off the ground, leaving the older man only momentarily rested against the wall to wrestle another Skitter back. He shoved one of his knives into Uncle Scott's hand.
"When the time comes, Ben," Uncle Scott said, gripping Ben's arm for a second, meeting his eyes with an intent glare, and everything suddenly felt strange, distantly removed from the situation around them, "You know what the right choice is. You know where you belong. Stop fighting it."
"What?" Ben faltered, furrowing his brow, heart thumping erratic in his chest, and then he slammed head first back into the moment, as though Uncle Scott had never said anything out of the ordinary.
"Start fighting, Ben, you need to go," Uncle Ben hissed, words gurgled slightly, as he gently shoved Ben back towards battle, then spun to face his own assured death.
There were few Skitters between Ben and the door, and because they were bottlenecked by the corridor, he was able to finish them off with a relative ease. He turned round with enough time to watch in horror as Uncle Scott was engulfed by an onslaught of enemy, then positioned himself in front of the door and prepared for the horde, only to be brought nearly to his knees by an explosive rattle that rocked the earth and shattered the front lobby windows.
It took a few seconds for the enemy to recover, but once they had, they split in two directions, several rushing down the hall towards Ben, and the rest hurrying to meet the advancing 2nd Mass troops. Against guns, the Skitters went down easy, and Ben pounded the door, called to his brother inside to start moving the barricade, nodding to an approaching Weaver, and watching distantly as Dr. Glass hurried to her fallen uncle's body with her medic bag, and nearly folding inside herself at the realization he was beyond her help.
"I tried," Ben croaked out an attempted explanation, but the words were barely audible, and he could feel the eyes of the surrounding others on him, as though branding him with harsh accusation. How was it that he still stood, still breathed air, when a good man had fallen? How many other humans were going to die in his wake?
"We have to move quickly," the captain immediately barked orders, gesturing at several fighters, "Clear the building. Scout our path to the rendezvous point, and I need a position on those bikes."
"Where will we go?" Ben questioned, shakily, not certain if he'd been heard and vaguely aware that Maggie, Dai, and a mess of other fighters had, at some time during the battle, joined their ranks. The door behind him cracked open and Matt's pale face peeked out, took in the 2nd Mass outside, and thrust open the door, hurrying to his brother's side, while other children poured out around them towards the perceived safety of the elder fighters.
"How long for Jimmy to make it back this way?" Weaver demanded of Dai, and at the name, Ben stumbled back into full awareness so hard that the air knocked clear from his lungs.
"Two, three minutes maybe," Dai replied, "But he said he moves faster alone. We should leave now. He'll beat us there either way."
"Jimmy is here?" Ben cried out, and was given a few plaintive glances for his trouble. Instantly, he felt ready to call it a day. Jimmy had made it back to the 2nd Mass, that's all he needed. Yet at the same time, there was that nag of betrayal, Jimmy had returned without him, and it felt as though it meant something but as to what Ben wasn't exactly sure.
"Right. Let's get going then. Doc, I'm sorry for your loss, and I know you're hurting, but we need to move now," Weaver shouted.
"Come on, doc, you can walk with me," Maggie gently offered and Dr. Glass buried her face in her hand, allowed herself to be lead away from Uncle Scott's body by the young woman.
It felt different moving from that building with the group of children flanked on all sides by a great deal more fighters than before. Not having to play the role of vanguard, Ben could move alongside Matt, his hand resting heavy on his younger brother's shoulder. Weaver fell into step beside them, rifle relaxed but gripped tight, ready to be slung up into action should the need arise.
"Dai's group secured some vehicles back at the community center, Hal and a couple other fighters are on bike drawing enemy attention and searching out other survivors, pointing them the right direction. When we reach the sewers, civilians and kids are heading in with Jimmy. We got a rendezvous point outside town, if any of the other civilian groups made it out, they'd be headed that way," Weaver rattled off explanation, "When we get to the sewers, I need you with me. We still got to get those vehicles out, and cut the enemy off our tail, give us a running start."
"What are we going to do?" Ben asked, tightening his grip on Matt, relieved to hear Hal was safe but with mixed feelings about his being on the road acting as a moving target, and instantly hating that the reunion with Jimmy would be short at best, though most likely limited to a mere glimpse and swift parting.
"Dai and Jimmy were kind enough to cook up some napalm, I thought we might put it to use, maybe build a wall of fire," Weaver answered mock cheerfully.
"Awesome," Matt grinned, features falling when Ben moved his hand to the top of Matt's head, a silent reprimanding.
"Oh. Okay. Light the town on fire. That makes sense. How did they make napalm?" Ben gaped.
"Well, how did you guys make a bomb out of supplies from a hardware store? I don't know. I suppose you'll have to ask them when we finally have a chance to breathe," Weaver replied, and broke away to rejoin the front guard.
Ben set his jaw and drew Matt closer towards himself. There were other things he felt he might need to ask Jimmy, admittedly, though, he didn't plan on doing a whole hell of a lot of talking, and maybe not a whole lot of breathing either, when they had the chance and, more importantly, the private moment to fully take advantage of each other's surviving the recent attempts on their lives.
.
.
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AN: Yup, this chapter ran quick. Lot of back and forth with the boys. They're "big" reunion will be soon-ish. And, the much anticipated return of a character is coming up soon...
Please let me know what you think!
Reviewers: Sassysavanna190, lol, I'll try to get the story finished for you. Yes, many of our fave 2nd Mass-ers are safe and sound, and a lot of red shirts are dead, dead, dead. I love your enthusiasm! Answer: I don't watch Falling Skies anymore, stopped on S2, episode 5 after the first ten minutes in. And since Leverage never got renewed, I don't watch anything on TNT, therefore, nope, I haven't seen the S3 trailer and I couldn't care less, but I am glad that you're excited. I hope you all enjoy the next season, seriously! Dee, lousy at writing reviews? If that's lousy, then I can only wonder what you you think an awesome review looks like. Thank you for speaking up, though, I'm glad the story still has you enthralled. You're absolutely right about Ben needing to talk to Jimmy about what's going on. And 20 chapters until that big reveal? Wow, you're optimistic. And Tom finding out about Jimmy and Ben will be a fun chapter indeed. Guest, hehe, yeah, sometimes just gotta let the characters be goofy. IcicleLilly, hey, you're still reading! Yes, Hal is infuriating. PsycLinc, glad you liked them so much! LOL, yes, Jimmy is a rare boy, though his dislike of porn is less about the porn per se and kind of along the lines of why he doesn't like motel rooms. RemedyRay, I wish I could update everyday too...then that would mean the story was finished. Sigh. Just keep swimming, right? TyphoonBoom08, you're back! So there's the first fast pace chapter, hopefully it was still good? Also, you're "sum up" of the last three chapters really made my day. I loved your assessment of everything. Looking forward to hearing from you again! Cookie97, you know, funny thing, I'm thinking no one noticed, either that or they didn't mention it, but Cole did actually appear in this story before Falling Snow. I was actually reluctant to use him in Falling Snow, because it would spoil a big part of Ben's history that I'd yet to reveal in this story. Oh well, Matt is better in this chapter, see? All good. For now. Bwahahahahahahah!
Right, thank you all for coming out. Hopefully I'll hear from some of you again this chapter? And I'll definitely see you all next Sunday. Back to the grindstone...